Anita Mani lives, works and birds in Delhi, from where she runs Indian Pitta, her book imprint with Juggernaut Books. Indian Pitta is the country’s first imprint that focuses on everything avian. She has oscillated from writing (first for the Hindu Business Line, and later Business Standard) to a corporate career and back to writing. For several years, she ran a news and current affairs publication for children called Child Friendly News.

In an e-mail interview, Anita Mani, writer and editor and the force behind Indian Pitta, chats about her journey, publishing and birds.

Can you tell our readers the story behind Indian Pitta? How did you come up with an imprint dedicated to birds and what was the thought behind it?

I’ve been birding for around 15 years and been writing/editing for double as long, so it seemed instinctive to marry the two interests. Chiki Sakar of Juggernaut backed the idea, and the imprint came to be. The premise was simple – we simply don’t have enough writing – beyond field guides – on nature, wildlife and birds in India. The idea was to create a set of books that combine great writing with sound science and would appeal to readers beyond those already working in the natural science space.  

You have had an interesting professional journey. Has the transition from tech communications to niche publishing been an easy one?

I started my career as a journalist covering tech and communications for The Hindu Business Line.  And at every stage after, writing and communications – be it for business folks, investors, board members or children – was a part of what I did. And in between, I ran a newspaper for children called Child Friendly News; so, the transition felt natural.

Despite the ecological collapse we see around us, environmental writing in Indian publishing is still a niche area. What does it take to break the cuffs?

There is a larger challenge of fewer people reading, and I think this hurdle is part of that. I think people respond instinctively to nature, whether in real life or in books. Children who read my paper would always point to features on wildlife and nature as their favourites. So the interest is there – we just have to give them a reason to come back to it. And that can be done by building awareness (that these books are out there, for example) through outreach and getting them to sample the books. Enough people want a break from screens – we need to work to make books the option they pick. 

Indian Pitta has published some fantastic books on birds, their habitats and conservation. In the submissions that you receive, do you think there is more focus on some ecosystems, like forests? How do you address the gaps here?

I am not sure that’s the case. I am going to answer this through the prism of the books we have published.  Our very first book, The Living Air, celebrated wildlife in urban settings, while Women in the Wild and The Search for India’s Rarest Birds had stories from multiple habitats.  Our newest series for children, Wild About India, covers taxa from every possible habitat. Around 100 species are featured in ten themed books. But I’d like to do more habitat-specific books – for example, on grasslands and coastal systems.

Who are your favourite writers in Indian ornithology? Is there one specific work that has changed the way you think?

In addition to all Indian Pitta authors, whose work I admire tremendously (if I listed them individually, this answer would be too long!), writers I enjoy reading (and these are just three examples across different generations) are M. Krishnan, TR Shankar Raman, and Yuvan Aves. Books on my mind (and this changes ever so often) are some beautifully written ones on a single species – like Raising Hare and The Last of the Curlews. To sustain such narratives is hard and both do it so well. These are international titles, however – I’d love to publish Indian equivalents.   

If you could write a biography about one bird, which one would you choose and why?

The Great Indian Bustard – it’s a bird that needs every champion it can find.

Anita Mani was a speaker at the third edition of GLF (2023). Her panel discussion, The Business of Green Books in India is available here:

Monisha Raman’s debut, The Highlands of Yore, is forthcoming with Readomania in India and Running Wild Press in North America. Her work has appeared in several journals and anthologies.